Tony Kurdzuk/The Star-LedgerAs hurricane Irene approaches Seaside Heights, town resident Jim O'Conner uses his cell phone to snap a picture of plywood decorated with a cross and the words "Go Away Irene" covering the windows of the new Steaks Unlimited under construction on Ocean Terrace.

SEASIDE HEIGHTS — Bill Fisher has found the higher ground where he plans to wait out Hurricane Irene.

He’ll be on the Casino Fishing Pier in Seaside Heights, some 25 feet over the Atlantic Ocean and about 100 feet out to sea.

"This pier ain’t going nowhere," said Fisher, 52, who has managed the Pier, a family-owned business, for the past 16 years. "If something happens to this building, I want to be here."

Fisher is one of many business owners and managers who don’t want to leave their property, even though state and local officials are telling them they should.

He boarded up his windows yesterday, and he wrote "gone golfing" on the plywood.

But he’s not going anywhere.

"I have too many millions of dollars worth of jewelry downstairs and would feel uncomfortable leaving it alone," he said, noting the prices of inventory items range from $75 and $75,000 in the store.

Like others who refuse to leave, he stocked up on alcohol, food and gasoline for his 8,000-watt generator.

Fisher, who lives in Manchester, says playing watchman is one of several reasons he has for riding out the storm from the pier’s office.

There’s something fun about seeing what Mother Nature has to offer, he says. He’s felt the thrill of having the pier "move from side to side" during typical Nor’easters he has also endured. And he wants to watch the sea rise so high that it’s "under your feet," he said.

But the main reason Fisher is staying is to protect his investment from possible thieves should Mother Nature bust down his doors. Inside the office that leads to the length of the pier is lot of fishing equipment and supplies.

"I’m worried if something happens to the building and it’s just going to be open," he said. "The police aren’t going to have time to check that kind of stuff. They’re going to be busy.

"I lost my job and took whatever pension I had and threw it into this," he said. "It ain’t much, but it’s all I got — and they ain’t getting it."